I Can Has Grasses!

I gave up waiting for the second floor deck and had the back yard regraded and sodded.

The brownish patches are all weeds. So are most of the green patches. The tree died this year. I liked it (it looked like the Kindle tree), but dead, so gone.

The area is a bit sloped. The downstairs is a basement in front, but a walkout here. You cannot tell from the “before” picture, but the low point in the yard was just off the patio and there were several lumps. Some of that is a side-effect of getting the power lines buried. Some of it was just there when we moved in. It’s all gone, now. The entire yard is flat(ish) and is graded toward that back gate into the alley.

Oddly, sod was cheaper than seed. Since it’s also more instant-gratification-y, that’s what we went with. Now, we water every day until it snows.

Update: I didn’t mention who did this. I usually keep criticism anonymous, but there is no need to do so with praise. Remboldt Lawn Services did a great job (at least so far – we’ll see how the spring croquet party goes). It was by no means “cheap”, but I think the value is there. It was very quick (three calendar days; I’d estimate about seven man-days), but that was only because they had equipment (which needs to be paid for) that I would never have access to, myself. I recommend them.

It’s not quite done.

• The spot under the compost bins needs to be bricked.
• Sand needs to be poured along the garden beds (into that slight indent between the brick and the boards). 20 Oct Update: This is done.
• The back garden beds need to be hooked into the watering system (piping behind the compost bins).

Those are probably spring tasks. We might get ambitious, but it’s doubtful.

More good news: After being in storage for three years, the robot lawnmower seems to work just fine. Go Husqvarna! Its guide wires are under the sod. It lives on the out-of-view side of the hot tub. We’ve only let it go once to see how it worked; it’s basically a Roomba with blades. It’s a thing one runs every day, not a once per week lawn mowing. Once I get some confidence in it, I’ll set it to run at 0400 or something equally unnoticeable. That will be nice: The yard will always be “perfect”.